Set in near future New Zealand, in a world where cars are
too expensive for most people to own, water is rationed, and the skies are
smoggy, this is a CSI-ish police procedural mixed with horror.
Penny Yee has just opened a crime lab with a large loan from
her parents- who want her to marry for money instead of working- and this is
her first case. She is saddled with her brother/cousin (cousin, but adopted
into her family) Matiu, an ex-con who is somewhat psychic and has a personal
demon that just may be real. He works for the family car service, and is
Penny’s official driver/body guard.
The case is a locked room mystery- a room locked from the
inside, with not even a dead body inside, just empty clothes, an inscribed
bowl, and blood. Lots of blood. Matiu finds the bowl irresistible, and, despite
the crime scene tape, picks it up and has a nasty vision, of the “We cannot stop
here this is Lovecraft country” sort. Things get weirder with every encounter-
a visit to a dog fighting camp turns into a full on horror fest.
There is a bit of an X-Files vibe, with Penny the rational scientist
and Matiu the psychic. The world that the story is set in seems pretty grim,
but it is not post-apocalyptic grim. The author uses present tense narration,
which I frequently find annoying but he made it flow. My big gripe with the
story is that it ends on a bit of a cliff hanger, and I was not aware ahead of
time that it was a series. Four stars.
The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something- anything- from Amazon, they will give me a few cents.
I received this e-book free from the Library Thing Early Reviewer program.
Neither of these things influenced my review.
No comments:
Post a Comment